Some vintage perfumes are still in existence because they were the most luxurious thing your money could buy. Others, like Tosca, by the old German firm Maurer and Wirtz, are simply still around because someone thought they were the best drugstore deal. Tosca, in one formulation or another, has been available to you since 1912. It’s harder to find now than it presumably was then: I ordered it from Merz Apothecary. It set me back $26.50: the equivalent of about 2 bucks back then.
As far as simple perfumes go, Tosca is a fine choice, and probably one of the most wearable perfumes I own. It’s a bright, cheap, soapy aldehydic thing with a side of musk. It’s also ever so slightly minty in the beginning. At the heart it gets airier, and the musk comes out more towards the end. It’s basically Ivoire‘s daughter, who is on the cheerleading squad. It would be just as good as a soap or body splash, and is available as such.
Price Range: Inexpensive
Recommended Occasion: Casual
Release Year: 1921
My Rating: 6.5
Hey Joan! Don’t you love inexpensive treasures!? This sounds like it would be perfect in the hot weather as a body splash. I have never heard about it before. Thank you! (As you can probably tell, I’m on a kind of anti-expensive perfume rant these days. I need to shake myself out of it as my prejudice is getting boring to me!)
I do! Merz Apothecary in Chicago has plenty of them. I also found a bottle of peach edt there for $18. I think that with perfume and fashion you might get what you pay for about 60% of the time. The other 40% is up for grabs.
I have heard such good things about Merz. Now, is the online store Smallflower related to them, because I purchase all my L’Aromarines from them.
I didn’t know about Smallflower before you told me, but it looks like Smallflower is the online version of Merz Apothecary.
We loved reading your reviews! Smallflower is our online store. Everything on Smallflower.com is in the Merz Apothecary stores and vice versa. We named it Smallflower because Merz Apothecary is a little difficult to spell
Glad you liked my reviews, Merz Apothecary/Smallflower! Thanks for reading!
I don’t know of a friendlier perfume than Tosca. And it’s beautiful.
Not long after smelling Tosca I read yet another short article about people searching for discontinued perfumes. I know that that is a sad and complex matter, but at the same time I have to wonder why so many people are hanging around the cemetery when something like the modestly-priced Tosca is available to be enjoyed.
Tosca is unusually complex, but I’m convinced I can pick out the lily-of-the-valley and the labdanum, and I feel fairly assured about some other elements.
“Hanging around the cemetery?” That’s one of your best quips yet, formaggio!